Recently, an energy problem has become a big concern as the industry is highly developed.
Accordingly, there is a growing demand for new energy sources that are environmentally friendly and have high power.
The fuel cell is an energy conversion device that converts the chemical energy of fuel into electric energy. The fuel cell has high energy density and high efficiency, and is expected to be used as an environmentally friendly energy source.
The fuel cell generates electric energy from the chemical reaction energy of hydrogen contained in a hydrocarbon-based material such as methanol, ethanol, and natural gas and oxygen supplied from the outside. Depending on the kind of the electrolyte, the fuel cell is classified into a Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC), a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC), a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC), a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), and the like.
Among the fuel cells, the Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEMFC) has excellent output characteristics, can solve a corrosion problem by using a solid polymer membrane, has the quick start and response characteristics, and can obtain the high energy conversion efficiency and high current density at low temperature. Accordingly, the Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is applied in various fields such as an automobile power supply, distributed power supply, and small power supply.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0001294 proposed a technique for preventing wrinkles from being formed in a solid polymer electrolyte membrane of a fuel cell by thermally transferring an electrode catalyst layer to either surface of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane using a protective film. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the electrode catalyst layer from being peeled off by the wrinkles of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane. However, since the thermal expansion coefficient of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane is different from that of the electrode catalyst layer, the electrode catalyst layer may be peeled off from the solid polymer electrolyte membrane and the mechanical strength of the solid polyelectrolyte membrane may be lowered during charging and discharging, due to the heat generated when the fuel cell is driven. As a result, the fuel cell may be deformed or damaged to lower the reliability of the fuel cell.